Caracci; the Castle of St. Angelo at Rome, by Claude Lorraine; the Dead Body of Abel, in a foreshortened attitude, by Rubens; a Rabbi, by Rembrandt; Angels, by Murillo; a male portrait, unknown, by Velasquez; two landscapes, by G. Poussin; and two rural scenes, by Cuyp and Teniers. Of modern pictures there are to be seen here, "Pilgrims in sight of Rome," by Eastlake; a large sea-piece, by Calcott; and "The Chase," by Landseer. Dr. Waagen, no mean authority on such a subject, pronounces the series of portraits the richest collection of eminent English characters, from the days of Henry VIII., that he has seen in England; though he expresses a doubt as to the genuineness of those ascribed to Holbein. Still, after making every deduction for the fact that a few are, or may be, copies instead of originals, the number and value of the family portraits, ranging as it does from that of the first Lord Russell down to Richmond's portrait of the present duke, is unsurpassed, and probably unequalled, in any private house in England. Very many of these portraits have been engraved, and are consequently well known to the world of art and taste.

A curious object of literary interest is shown in one of the rooms here-the original "Lion's Head" which was placed in the front of Button's Coffee House in Russell Street, Covent Garden, to

THE SCULPTURE-GALLERY.

receive contributions for the old periodical, the Guardian. From Button's it was removed to the "Shakespeare Tavern," under the Piazza in Covent Garden, and thence to Richardson's Hotel, in the same place. It was ultimately bought by the Duke of Bedford and brought hither. It is large and boldly carved, and finely gilt. Under the mouth is the Latin couplet

"Curvantur magnis isti cervicibus ungues;

Non nisi dilectâ pascitur iste ferâ."

The engraving of this "Lion's Head" is reproduced here from "Old and New London," where a full account is given of its history.

A few pictures have been added to the collection since Horace Walpole compiled the first catalogue; the latter has been enlarged and supplemented by Mr. George Scharf, and the duke has printed copies of it for private use. The catalogue in itself forms an almost complete series of illustrations to the history of England under our Tudor and Stuart sovereigns. Among the pictures added since Walpole's day are two historical paintings-"The Trial of Lord William Russell," by Sir George Hayter, and "The Refusal of the Crown by Lady Jane Gray," by C. R. Leslie; and some portraits of the last five dukes and other members of the family, including two of Lord John Russell, which have been engraved.

The library, which occupies two rooms at the south-east corner of the ground-floor, contains an admirable collection of topographical and other illustrated works, county histories, and books on statuary, painting, agriculture, and other arts and sciences, for the most part handsomely bound.

We pass out from the library into the flower-garden, which covers the area between the south front and the park. This and the other gardens were laid out by Repton. Here

are two bronze replicas, by Westmacott, of the "Fighting Gladiator" and the "Dying Gladiator." A little further off from the house is a gilt statue, life-size, of the present duchess. A yew-tree, which grew between the statue and the drawing-room windows, was felled by Mr. Gladstone in October, 1878, as a memorial of a visit which he paid to the abbey.

From the south-east angle of the mansion, a covered way or piazza leads to the statuegallery and the green-house. The latter is nearly 150 feet in length, and contains a valuable collection of foreign plants-the sixth duke and his successor, Francis, the seventh duke, having been great horticulturists, and largely assisted here by the counsel of the late Sir William J. Hooker, of Glasgow, and afterwards of Kew. The statue-gallery contains one of the finest private collections of sculpture in the kingdom-especially the celebrated Lanti vase, brought from Rome by the first Lord Cawdor, and purchased from him. It is sculptured with Bacchanalian figures, masks, &c. It is of the lotus form, and is one of the finest and largest specimens of ancient art existing, being only a few inches smaller than the Warwick vase. The western and eastern ends of this gallery are oocupied by the "Temple of the Graces" and the "Temple of Liberty" respectively. The former contains statues of the three Graces, by Canova; the latter is adorned with heads of the Whig politicians of the last generation-Lord Holland, Lord Lansdowne, General Fitzpatrick, Lord Grey, Robert Spencer, and Charles James Fox: the latter is of fine Carrara marble, and bears an inscription from the pen of Georgiana, the beautiful Countess of Devonshire, which runs as follows::

"Here, 'midst the friends he lov'd, the man behold

In truth unshaken and in duty bold,

Whose patriot zeal and uncorrupted mind

Dared to assert the freedom of mankind;

And whilst, extending desolation far,
Ambition spread the baneful flames of war,
Fearless of blame and eloquent to save,
"Twas he 'twas Fox, the warning counsel gave;
'Midst jarring conflicts stemm'd the tide of blood,
And to the menaced world a sea-mark stood.

"Oh! had his voice in Mercy's cause prevailed,
What grateful millions had the statesman hailed!
Whose wisdom bade the broils of nations cease,
And taught the world humanity and peace.
But though he fail'd, succeeding ages here
The vain yet pious efforts shall revere,
Boast in their annals his illustrious name,
Uphold his greatness, and confirm his fame.

"GEORGIANA DEVONSHIRE."

Before the entrance of this temple, life-like statues of John Locke and Erskine stand as guardians keeping watch and ward. In the body of the gallery is a rich collection of specimens of ancient and modern art, among which Canova, Thorwaldsen, Nollekens, Chantrey, and Westmacott are well represented. It would be almost as impossible to give a list of the statues as of the portraits at Woburn; and those who care to study it in detail will find it in the "Woburn Abbey Marbles," compiled by order of Francis, sixth duke. Among them will be found two splendid marble sarcophagi from Greece, both slightly imperfect; the Triumphal Procession of Bacchus, Hercules, &c.; a Faun found at Pompeii; Bacchus, Silenus, &c.; busts of Trajan, Julius Cæsar, Marcus Aurelius, Nero, Antoninus Pius, and other Roman Emperors. Here the visitor will admire Hector and Andromache, by Chantrey; Psyche, by Sir Richard Westmacott; the Ladies Georgiana and Louisa Russell, by Thorwaldsen and Chantrey; and a variety of other treasures, including one or two Roman urns found in the park. Among the finest of the other statues are an Apollo and two figures of Venus; a group of Cupid and Psyche, brought from Italy, and probably dating from the fourth century B.C.; and several alti and bassi relievi of subjects from the Homeric poems. Those who wish for a list of the pictures and statuary at Woburn will find one in elaborate detail in the first volume of Neale's "Views of Seats;" but it is a catalogue of names only, adding nothing but the measurements of the pictures. Dr. Waagen, who visited the abbey in 1837, has given a list of the principal works of the sculptor's art, accompanied by original criticisms of his own. The great stables, mentioned by Pennant as having formed part of the cloisters of the old abbey, were pulled down, as stated above, and their site is now occupied by a suite of rooms. The present stables and other offices, which were erected by the fifth duke, form the wings of a modern building of handsome elevation, the centre of which is occupied by a tennis-court and a riding-house. The former is nearly 110 feet long; the latter, including a gallery at the end for spectators, is 130 feet. Both the tennis-court and the riding-house are constantly used by the younger members of the duke's family. There is stabling here for between thirty and forty horses.

From the eastern extremity of the green-house a second piazza, nearly a quarter of a mile in length, winding round in a semi-circle to the north, leads to the dairy, built in the Chinese style. This dairy, however, is not used, but kept merely for show. In the more distant part of the grounds are a puzzle-garden or maze, a rustic grotto, and other embellishments of a fantastic kind.

The park, which is twelve miles in circuit, and embraces about 3,500 acres, is surrounded by a brick wall nearly eight feet high; this gives a dull appearance as compared with oaken fences. It is well stocked with deer and with game, and is accessible to pedestrians and to carriages, being intersected by the road from Woburn to Eversholt. The surface of the park is undulating and pleasantly diversified, and surrounded by woods of irregular plan, in which the oak, beech, and fir prevail. The winding avenue on the north and northeast of the park is much and deservedly admired. The western part of the park, near to the town of Woburn, is particularly rich in Scotch firs and cedars of Lebanon; and the "Evergreen Drive" in spring is a sight which attracts visitors from all parts by the beauty of its rhododendrons. These evergreens cover a space of no less than 200 acres. As lately as 1750 this was an open rabbit-warren.

Lord J. Russell, in his introduction to the "Correspondence of John, Duke of Bedford," tells us that, besides building, the duke took a warm interest in planting; and that the Evergreen Drive in the park was planted by him with various kinds of pine and fir, selected with the assistance of Philip Miller, and thinned by his own care.

In laying out the park, the old fish-ponds which supplied the wants of the abbey were utilised and enlarged, and the pieces of water are so combined as to present a variety of agreeable views. In some places they are open to the park, and in others bounded on all sides by plantations of larch and fir. Of the ponds, the large lake before the west front

of the house is called the Basin; and of those lower down, near the Evergreen Walk, two are called the Old and New Drakelow. Here there is a brood of swans, almost enough to form a "swannery;" and all of them abound in waterfowl. In one lake is an island, on which is an octagonal Chinese temple, forming a summer-house.

Horace Walpole's remarks upon the park at Woburn, in spite of its natural wildness, have often found an echo in the mouths of other visitors. "The park," he writes, "is very fine, the woods are glorious, and the plantations of the evergreens sumptuous; but upon the whole it is rather what I admire than like. I fear that is what I am a little apt to do at the finest places in the world where there is not a navigable river." Certainly the addition of a river would make the park nearly perfect.

The gardens were laid out by Repton with great taste and skill, forming a happy admixture of the formal and the natural style. They are very extensive, and the upper part of them forms a shelter to the house upon the east side. The heath-house is a fine specimen of its kind, containing nearly every known variety. The green-house was designed by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, about the year 1830. It has a glazed roof, supported on iron girders, and is remarkable as being one of the earliest structures in which those two materials were combined. Indeed it is said to have given to Sir Joseph Paxton (who was a native of the adjoining parish of Milton Bryant) the first idea of that form of construction which he afterwards so successfully carried out at Chatsworth, and at the first Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. The "new" kitchen gardens, about a quarter of a mile to the north-east of the house, cover six acres; they contain forcing-houses, and every other scientific appliance. In the park is a herd of about 1,500 head of deer, in which there are many of the red and fallow

kind, and a few white does.

The chief or state entrance to the park is through a large arched gateway of stone, with ornamental gates, called the "Golden Gates," on the London road, about a mile and a quarter from the town of Woburn; from the lodge two circuitous drives of about a mile each lead up to the western and the eastern entrances respectively.

The park and domain were once dotted over by excellent farms, in which all the plans that science can supply in aid of agriculture were exemplified practically, and which were the resort of all persons interested in those matters. One of the most remarkable and interesting parts of the Home Farm was a room constructed by John, the fifth duke, for showing the sheep at the annual shearing, which was celebrated here for many years as a summer festival, with as great ceremony and hospitality as at Holkham, in Norfolk. The gathering